Consumers have flocked to movie theaters for three weeks running to see James Cameron's 3-D animated epic, Avatar. Now, the question is, are consumers ready to go out and buy special sets and don goggles to watch television in 3-D in their own homes?
The buzz coming from this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas is that 3-D is ready for prime time, if at prices well above the flat screen sets shoppers have come to know.
Programmers are apparently ready to hop on the 3-D bandwagon. ESPN, owned by Disney, is ready to show World Cup Soccer matches and NBA games on the first 3-D channel for the home. DirecTV is expected to announce the launch of its own 3-D channels while Discovery Communications, Imax and Sony plan to broadcast films, kid shows and concerts in the U.S. starting in 2011.
"The momentum for 3D has been shockingly quick," Sir Howard Stringer, Sony's chief executive, told the Financial Times. "Suddenly everybody's wearing [3D] glasses."
"The stars are aligning to make 2010 the launch year of 3-D," John Taylor, a vice president for LG Electronics USA, told The New Times. "It's still just in its infancy, but when there is a sufficient amount of content available -- and lots of people are working on this -- there will be a true tipping point for consumers."
Riddhi Patel, an analyst at the research firm iSuppli, told the Times that guys are ready for 3-D. "I think 90 percent of the males in this country would be dying to watch the Super Bowl and be immersed in it," he said.
Discussion Questions: How quickly will 3-D viewing become standard in American homes? What do you see as the biggest challenges standing in the way of widespread adoption? What will this mean for retailers?